Improvement in machines for sawing fire-wood



STILLMAN A. CLEMENS,

PATENT FFICE.

OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR SAWING FIRE-WOOD.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,571, dated October' 29, 1861.

T0 @ZZ whoml z'ft may concern:

Be it known that I, STILLMAN A. CLEMENs, ot' the city of Rockford, in the county ot Tinnebago and State ot Illinois, have invented a new and useful Machine for Sawing FirelVood; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part ot` this specification, in which- Y Figure l is a plan, and Fig. 2 a side elevation', of the said machine, the same letters indicating like parts inboth ot the figures.

In my improved machine the wood to be sawed into shorter lengths for lire-wood, tbc., is placed upon a rest made'near one end of the machine, and lies so low that ordinarily the workman can put one foot upon the wood to steady it as he stands facing toward and operating` the machine. The wood thus placed is sawed transversely by one or more saws horizontally attached from one end by a pivotrod connecting to the lower end of one or more radial vibratory arms, which are supported above at their opposite ends from a common axis of oscillation, on which the vertical radial arms are made to swing and give reciprocating motion to the saws by means ot` a handle supported nearly over the rest, upon which the wood is` placed, and so connected by horizontal radial arms or diagonal braces that the movement of the handle up and down in an arc of vibration, of which the common oscillating axis is the center, (or nearly so,) shall give a pendulum-like movement to the vertically-placed vibratory arms. The saws are used without saw-frames by making their teeth of such form as will cut chiefly in the direction in which the saw is pulled by the vibratory arms, and the saws are raised, lowered, guided, and made adjustable to their work by friction-rollers, suitably supported on both their back'and toothed edges above and below, and as the workman bears down upon the handle the saws are pulled across the wood and the cutting-stroke is given, while in the thrusting movement of the saws, as the workman raises his arms and body, the resistance is less, which both protects the saws from injury and is favorable in the application ot manual power.

In the accompanying drawings, c is any suitable frame of the sawing-machine.

I) is a forked rest, upon which the wood to be sawed is laid transversely across the frame.

ports (l d d, which at their remote ends have a rod e passing free through them and connecting them with vibratory arms which at their upper ends are pivoted on and supported at the opposite ends ot a rod g, which, securedv to the top part of the trame, constitutes the common oscillatory axis of the machine.

h h are horizontal radial arms free to vibrate by ytheir attachment at one end to the rod g and at their opposite ends supporting a handle i, from the ends oi' which braces j j extend diagonally downward and torm a connection with the lower ends of the vibratory arms f f and the saw-supports d cl d, which last have an additional bracin g-rod k to steady The saws are pressed down upon the wood in sawing by a grooved friction-roller Z, over each saw a narrow groove on the periphery ot the roller receiving the back et the saw and measurably serving to guide its direction of its motion. These grooved rollers are supported on center-pins by hangers m m, tbc., which are fastened above to a slide-bar n, which, with the attached hangers, is made to slide up or down in the nearly-uprightguidewavs o o, made fast on each side of the frame. Below' the saws are wooden rollers 2J @which are also supported by the hangers m m, and on which the weight of the saw rests by its toothed edge when not cutting. Each saw passes between two adjacent hangers, between which also the rollers Z and p are supported above and below the saw, and the latter is sometimes guided more positively in its cutting-plane by guide-cheeks on each side of the saw-plate, which are attached to the inside of the hangers and are conveniently made of wood or leather. The saw-plate thus runs in a narrow slit between the hangers in the saine vertical plane with the groove in the friction-roller above the saw. This guiding attachment, being most necessary when thin weak saws are used, can in'some cases be dispensed with, and is not deemed requisite to be shown in the accompanying drawings.

q is a catch-button which enters a recess in the slide-bar n and supports the latter with its attachments when elevated.

c c c are saws, fastened at one end to sup- 0' yr are small t1acl -.vl1eels, which may be used at choice for transporting the machine and made removable for working the saws.

In operating the machine, the slide-bar being raised and resting upon the catch bythe depression of the handle, the saws are elevated anddrawn back from over the rest b, upon which the billet of cordwood to be cut into shorter lengths is now laid. By releasing the catch the saws are lowered upon the wood, which the work man can steady by placing one foot upon it, and the saws are operated by working the handle up and down. The teeth of the saws, shownin Fig. 2 'of the drawings, are made to point in the direction of the pulling-stroke of the saw, which is effected by ythe downward movemenfof the handle. This makes the cutting-resistance less when the 'saws are thrust back, in which direction of movement alone are they liable to become sprung, and, as manual power is most favorably applied in the downward movement of the handle, the diminished resistance in the elevation of the handle favors the effective strength of the workman. In case more weight than that of the slide-bar frame is needed on the saws it can be attached to the slide-bar and made removable at option. The saws thus cut simultaneously, and as each passes through the stick it rests upon the wooden roller below, by which also it is elevated.

Either one, two, three, or more saws can be used in the machine.

I am aware that patents have been granted to ll. Il. Potter, April G, 1858, and to Heth and Hall, August 24, 1858, for crosscutsawing machines; but my improvement differs from the first of these in that the grooved roller Z, which guides and gives feed to the saw, rides Wholly upon the back of the saw-plate andis near the working-point of the saw when cutting, and thus is essential to the use of thin saw-plates, and also the feed action is selfoperating. Furthermore, my improvement differs from both the said patented inventions in having a forked. rest b on the frame of the machine, upon which the wood is placed in sawing, and also differs in the handle i, which is transverse and so placed in relation to the position of then rest that the workman can easily place one foot upon the wood and steady it while he operates the saws by working the handle.

I do not claim separately any of the parts herein described.

Operating one or more saws c c by the oscillating frame composed ofthe arms fand h, the bracej, and handle fi, in connection with the forked rest b and the device for guiding, feeding, and suspending the saws bythe rollers Z and p, arranged to run upon the back and toothed edges of the saws, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

. S'IILLMAN A. CLEMENS. Witnesses:

SILAs G. TYLER, ANDREW J. GUILFORD. 

